ENVS Faculty Publications Copyright (c) 2013 Utah State University All rights reserved. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub Recent documents in ENVS Faculty Publications en-us Mon, 20 May 2013 09:24:35 PDT 3600 Beef Production & Consumption: Sustainable Alternatives http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/869 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/869 Tue, 14 May 2013 11:56:45 PDT Sustainable living involves choosing a lifestyle with minimal environmental impacts. The ultimate goal is to leave future generations with a healthier environment than the one we were born into. How can we do that with beef consumption? Beef is part of American culture, so is there a way to make wiser choices when it comes to purchasing beef ? The short answer is, yes!

]]> Jennifer MacAdam et al. Rangeland Carbon Sequestration http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/868 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/868 Tue, 14 May 2013 11:56:40 PDT Terrestrial carbon sequestration is the process through which carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere is absorbed by trees, plants and crops through photosynthesis, and stored as carbon in biomass (tree trunks, branches, grasses, foliage, and roots) and soils1. Terrestrial carbon sequestration can contribute to offsetting carbon dioxide emissions and mitigating climate change.

Over 30% (770 million acres) of U.S. land cover is rangelands, yet in Utah, roughly 80 percent of land cover is rangelands2. Rangelands can be managed to increase soil carbon storage through more equitable distribution of grazing pressure over time and space to reduce forage plant defoliation and increase carbon inputs from standing plants to soils3. The overall ability of rangelands to sequester carbon depends on plant species, soil type, regional climate, topography, and management practice.

Even though the per acre carbon sequestration potential of rangelands may be less than that of either forestlands or croplands, the large size of rangelands in Utah and the U.S. suggests a great overall carbon sequestration potential, particularly in below-ground biomass and soils4,5. What does this mean and what role can rangeland owners play in carbon sequestration?

]]> Seth Cook et al. Home Gardening: Quick Tips to Efficient Watering http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/867 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/867 Tue, 14 May 2013 11:56:35 PDT In Utah’s dry climate, water is a gardener’s best friend. Water conservation is an important aspect of the home garden, and understanding efficient water management techniques can save you time and money. Knowing how to water properly will help you to maintain a more productive, sustainable garden and help the environment by reducing your consumption of this precious resource.

]]> Jordan Burningham et al. Extending a Geographic Lens Towards Climate Justice, Part 2: Climate Action http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/866 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/866 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:27:50 PDT There has been a recent increase of interest within the academic literature on the justice issues posed by climate change and the human responses to its present and forecasted effects. In two parts (here and in a previous article), we review and synthesize the recent literature by asking what climate justice concerns have been identified within three related realms: 1) the characterization of climate change itself and the assignment of responsibility for that change; 2) the differential or uneven impacts of climate change; and 3) the actions taken to address the problems associated with climate change, including both mitigation and adaptation. Here in Part 2, we focus on the justice concerns of climate action, examining the scholarship on climate change mitigation mechanisms formulated at the international level (i.e., REDD+, CDM) and climate change adaptation projects and finance. We argue that geographers are well-positioned to conduct (and already well engaged in) research on the local climate justice paradoxes emerging from the currently uncritical focus of climate action policy on justice at the level of the national state.

]]> Morey Burnham et al. Gendered mobility and morality in a south-eastern Mexican community: Impacts of male labour migration on the women left behind http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/865 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/865 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:38:56 PDT Based on research conducted in a migrant-sending community in south-eastern Mexico, we find that male out-migration has forced women to take on labour tasks that are associated with new spatial and mobility patterns. While these patterns have potential for increased empowerment for women, they also call the women’s morality into question, resulting in a policing of the women’s behaviour, and a simultaneous restriction of their mobility, by themselves and others. Therefore, we find male labour out-migration has resulted in contradictory changes in women’s mobility, with ambiguous results for women’s gender empowerment.

]]> J. McEvoy et al. Migración, género y tenencia de la tierra: Identidades femeninas complejas en el sector rural de Calakmul http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/864 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/864 Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:38:52 PDT B. Schmook et al. Extending a Geographic Lens Towards Climate Justice, Part 1: Climate Change Characterization and Impacts http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/863 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/863 Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:37:32 PDT There has been a recent increase of interest within the academic literature on the justice issues posed by climate change and the human responses to its present and forecasted effects. This literature is partially shaped by debates from environmental justice scholarship, but also has roots in various subfields of geography. In two parts (here and in a subsequent article), we review and synthesize the recent literature by asking what climate justice concerns have been identified within three related realms: 1) the characterization of climate change itself and the assignment of responsibility for that change; 2) the differential or uneven impacts of climate change; and 3) the actions taken to address the problems associated with climate change, including mitigation and adaptation. Here, in Part 1, we provide a basic outline of justice concepts; we address the characterization of climate change and the associated discursive framings; and we discuss the uneven impacts of climate change with a focus on the conceptualization of vulnerability. We suggest that the field of geography has much to offer to the debate on climate justice because of its unique understandings of the human-environment relationship based on a longstanding engagement with the spatiality and scale of environmental change, the corresponding human impacts, and the conceptual inseparability of nature and society. We identify, across Part 1 and Part 2, the need for a more comprehensive theory of justice to inform climate justice considerations—one that pays more attention to linked procedural, recognition, and scalar concerns.

]]> Morey Burnham et al. Transitioning conservative students into environmental leaders through service learning: A step-by-step guide for educators http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/862 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/862 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:42:53 PST A significant disconnect often exists between environmentalists and conservatives in terminology and approach, where although both might see the benefits of acting pro-environmentally, the communication gap results in divergent behaviors. This paper presentation will provide a step-by-step guide of ways to overcome the communication gap and foster environmental leaders in a conservative area. Service learning will be discussed as it was used in this study as the platform to foster pro-environmental behaviors among a conservative audience. The presentation will address the following: 1) Finding a common ground in terminology and values between environmentalists and conservatives, 2) Key concepts behind service learning and how they were applied to foster lasting pro environmental change, 3) Harnessing conservative values and terminology to transition students into environmentalists with application of community-based social marketing, and 4) Research results from a life-skill assessment, campus-wide sustainability survey, course evaluations, and impact statements from students. Methods, outcomes, and impacts will all be discussed in-depth. Attendees will walk away with a toolkit of actions to communicate, collaborate, and harness environmentally sustainable behaviors with conservative audiences.

]]> Roslynn Brain et al. Extension sustainability: Research, outreach, and communication techniques to foster positive change http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/861 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/861 Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:29:35 PST Roslynn Brain USU Extension Sustainability http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/860 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/860 Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:35:08 PST Roslynn Brain, Sustainable Communities Extension Specialist, will discuss the new statewide Extension Sustainability initiative in the December 11th IVC Broadcast. Participants will discover the background behind the initiative, current developments, and opportunities for collaboration. Part of the broadcast will include a "tour" of the new Extension Sustainability website (extension.usu.edu/sustainability), and plans for upcoming statewide extension sustainability certification trainings for the general public in the areas of land (land conservation, recycling, reducing, and reusing), air (air quality and climate change), water (water quality and use), food (local food movements), and energy (renewables).

]]> Roslynn Brain Biking as an Alternative Mode of Transportation http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/859 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/859 Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:37:34 PST With this fact sheet, you can overcome common barriers keeping you from becoming your own mode of transportation, and bettering your life because of it. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “creating new infrastructure and altering existing infrastructure to accommodate bicycling and walking has become a goal for several metropolitan planning organizations across the United States” (McKenzie & Rapino, 2011). Now is a great time to take advantage of this shifting focus away from vehicle commuting and delve into a healthier and cheaper mode of transportation: Cycling.

]]> Roslynn Brain et al. Custom Software Application for Analyzing Urban Landscape Water Use http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/858 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/858 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 08:33:13 PST A. P. Welsh et al. Linkages to Public Land Framework: Toward Embedding Humans in Ecosystem Analyses by Using “Inside-Out Social Assessment" http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/857 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/857 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 08:33:08 PST This article presents the ‘‘Linkages to Public Land’’ (LPL) Framework, a general but comprehensive data-gathering and analysis approach aimed at informing citizen and agency decision making about the social environment of public land. This social assessment and planning approach identifies and categorizes various types of linkages that people have to public land and guides the tasks of finding and using information on people in those linkages. Linkages are defined as the ‘‘coupling mechanisms’’ that explain how and why humans interact with ecosystems, while linkage analyses are empirical investigations contextualized both temporally and geographically. The conceptual, legal, and theoretical underpinnings of five basic linkage categories (tribal, use, interest, neighboring land, and decision making) and further refinement into subcategories are explained. These categories are based upon the complex property and decision-making regimes governing public land. Applying an ‘‘inside-out’’ analytic perspective, the LPL Framework assesses the social environment inside public land units and traces linkages out into the larger social environment, instead of assessing the outside social environment (communities or stakeholders) and assuming linkages exist between the social entities and public lands, as is generally done in social assessments. The LPL Framework can be utilized in management activities such as assessing baseline conditions and designing monitoring protocols, planning and evaluating management alternatives, analyzing impacts of decisions, structuring public involvement and conflict management efforts, and conducting collaborative learning and stewardship activities. The framework enhances understanding of human dimensions of ecosystem management by providing a conceptual map of human linkages to public land and a stepwise process for focusing and contextualizing social analyses. The framework facilitates analysis of the compatibilities, conflicts, and trade-offs between various linkages, and between cumulative human linkages and capabilities of public land to sustain them. While the LPL Framework was developed for use in planning for U.S. National Forests, it could be applied to other types of public land in the United States and adapted and extended to public lands and common property areas in other countries.

]]> Joanna Endter-Wada et al. Quantifying Urban Landscape Water Conservation Potential Using High Resolution Remote Sensing and GIS http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/856 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/856 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 08:33:04 PST F. A. Farag et al. Strengthening the Voice: Florida Farm Bureau Organizational Management http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/855 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/855 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:32:54 PDT R. Rudd et al. Enhancing Organizational Interactions: Lessons Learned From George Strait http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/854 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/854 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:32:53 PDT Roslynn Brain et al. Applying Social Marketing Theory to Establish Rapport and Trust on a One-On-One Basis http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/852 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/852 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:32:52 PDT Roslynn Brain et al. Cultivating University-Wide Change Using Community-Based Social Marketing http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/853 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/853 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:32:52 PDT Roslynn Brain et al. The Power of Persuasion: Strategies for Getting Others to Change Their Behavior http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/851 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/851 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:32:51 PDT N. E. Fuhrman et al. Quick Tips for Reducing Your Nerves Before Presenting or Teaching http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/849 http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/envs_facpub/849 Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:32:50 PDT Roslynn Brain